Details of Disaster Information

Torrential rains from the season's 11th tropical depression have caused severe flooding and mudslides in Eastern and Southern Mexico. Rivers burst their banks causing what is considered to be the regions worst flooding in 40 years.The unofficial death toll in nine of Mexico's 31 states stood on Thursday at 425, while some 270,000 people were driven from their homes.

The worst affected states are Veracruz, Puebla, Tabasco, Oaxaca and Hidalgo, where some 530,000 people have been affected, of whom approximately 86,000 are in temporary shelters. Latest estimates indicate that at least 476 persons have lost their lives and some 160 persons are still missing.

The official death toll in the flooding and mudslides reached 349 on Monday, but by all accounts the true number of dead was much higher. Mexican newspapers, which collected reports from witnesses and local officials, gave tolls as high as 600.

The States of Tabasco, Puebla and Veracruz are the most seriously hit, with some 170,000 persons affected in the three states all together.

Hundreds of municipalities and communities have been flooded and ravaged by mudslides, and many others, in remote mountain regions, are still isolated. More than 75 per cent of the Tabasco state is reportedly under water.

According to preliminary reports, at least 138 people, of whom 88 in Puebla State, have been killed by flood waters and mudslides. More than 157,000 people have been driven from their homes. In Tabasco and Hidalgo States only, approximately100,000 people were evacuated.

Heavy rains caused some of the worst floods in 40 years, killing at least 64 people and driving tens of thousands from their homes.

The Tulancingo river raged over its banks in the center of town, dragging trucks and cars and filling some 6,500 homes and buildings with water.

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Report/Articles

OCHA Situation Report No. 3 1999/11/02 Half a million people affected by the floods.Rescue/relief operations are still being carried out by the Mexican Civil Protection, the Armed Forces, the Mexican Red Cross, local authorities and NGOs.

Reuters 1999/10/25 Flood waters were slowly rising in the Mexican state of Tabasco Sunday after weeks of torrential rain forced officials to open the gates of a dam that was filled to capacity.

AFP 1999/10/23 More than 10,000 people were evacuated on Saturday from this rain-drenched capital of the oil-producing state of Tabasco, after three days of rain aggravated the flood situation here, officials said.

Reuters 1999/10/14 Strong rains are expected to persist in Mexico, already suffering its worst floods in 40 years.Heavy rainfall of two to three inches is forecast for the next 24 hours in the states of Chiapas, Yucatan and Veracruz.

CNN 1999/10/11 A deforested mountainside collapsed on this remote, mist-shrouded village, killing all but 30 of its 150 to 200 residents, local people said Monday.

CNN 1999/10/10 Furious that the government hasn't done more to help, hundreds of people in Tabasco's flooded capital clashed Sunday with police, who beat and arrested many of them.

CNN 1999/10/09 At least 300 people were confirmed dead Saturday from flooding in Mexico.Those hit hardest were Veracruz, Tabasco and Puebla, where 223 people were killed.

Reuters 1999/10/11 Rescue workers struggled to unearth the bodies of more people killed in mudslides, and fresh rainfall in hard-hit central Puebla state hampered helicopter rescue missions to remote mountain villages.

AFP 1999/10/11 Torrential rains have left 500 people dead, 300 more missing and forced half a million to abandon their homes, relief officials said Monday, while other reports suggested an even higher toll.

CNN 1999/10/08 22:40 GMT Victims of massive flooding along Mexico's Gulf Coast blamed the government Friday for allowing houses to be built -- and sometimes even building them -- on riverbanks, swamps and marshes.

CNN 1999/10/08 19:14 GMT At least 230 people were confirmed dead but the number is rising by the hour.At least 450,000 people in Veracruz, Tabasco and Oaxaca states were without electricity.

Reuters 1999/10/08 Soldiers were to intensify efforts to rescue any remaining survivors from mudslides at daybreak Friday as rains subsided and Mexicans set to shoveling the mud and grime left in their homes by flooding that killed well over 200 people.

OCHA Situation Report No.2 1999/10/08 After more than a week of torrential rains, unconfirmed figures show that more than 200 hundred persons have been killed by floods and mudslides, and hundreds more are unaccounted for, in ten states of Southeastern Mexico. Approximately 200,000 persons have been affected.

OCHA Situation Report No.1 1999/10/07 Torrential rains from the season's 11th tropical depression have caused severe flooding and mudslides in Eastern and Southern Mexico. Rivers burst their banks causing what is considered to be the region=s worst flooding in 40 years.Hundreds of thousands affected in southeastern Mexico.

Reuters 1999/10/07 Up to 70 people in a Mexican mountain town, including 14 school children, were believed buried under mudslides on Thursday after days of relentless rain that has already killed more than 100 people across the country.

Reuters 1999/10/06 Heavy rains caused some of the worst floods in 40 years, killing at least 64 people and driving tens of thousands from their homes.